A collection of letters written by American writer Ernest Hemingway to his close friend Guy Hickok - discussing drinking, money and writing - is expected to fetch USD 25,000 at an auction in the US.
Hemingway first met the recipient of these letters, Guy Hickok (addressed in the letters as "Gros") in the early 1920s when they were both acting as foreign correspondents for North American newspapers in Paris.
Hemingway, working for the Toronto Star, began what would become an enduring friendship with Hickok, who was on assignment for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
This correspondence is unrestrained and mildly profane, and lends tremendous insight into Hemingway's life and work, according to the US-based RR Auction.
In a nine-page long letter, signed 'Ernest', dated May 7, 1931, Hemingway wrote, "When my kidney was being weird had to give up drinking for about 6 weeks but now can drink and have drunk for ever since a year ago last February."
In the third letter, Hemingway wrote, "Don't be afraid to cash this check as have 438 in bank by latest statement. Also 1000 coming in on July 1."